The waste Obama will not cut

Washington Examiner:

Part two of a five-part Washington Examiner series, "Just Sign Here: Federal Workers Max Out at Taxpayer Expense." See the entire series -- and FMCS workers' salaries -- at this link.

Top officials of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service lavished taxpayer funds on themselves, made the phantom company of a recently retired employee one of their largest vendors and spent tens of thousands of dollars on storage spaces near their homes, where they kept old beds and toys.

George H. Cohen, the agency’s top official, used a “recreation and reception fund” freely, ordering a $1,277 "navy blue leather chair," $208 wooden coasters for his office, and bottles of Champagne, according to disbursement records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

Cohen, who was appointed by President Obama in October 2009, also used the fund to purchase artwork by his wife, whose paintings are sold through the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Virginia, said a former employee, Berkina Porter, and a current employee with knowledge of the buy.

The 233-person federal agency with a budget of $50 million, whose mission is to be a voluntary, non-binding mediator between government unions and managers, paid some $37,000 over 10 years for a storage facility near the house of Charles Burton, a top official, in Ashburn, Va., with no justification.

When Burton retired in late 2007 or early 2008, a friend at the agency began using his purchase card to pay the bill, and no one at the agency had a key.

When officials finally gained access to the facility, they found that it was filled with his fiance’s organ, a lawnmower, children’s toys, and a photo album of his dog titled “Buster 2004.”

In February 2008, Burton filed paperwork in Pennsylvania incorporating a new company called The Paper's Edge, and FMCS paid it $85,000 over a two-year period.

That amount was more than the agency paid all but three other companies, according to purchase card records reviewed by the Examiner.

The payments came from the purchase card of a still-current employee.

They are listed as being for an “I.T. Call Center Service.” The technology call service has neither a website nor a phone that is answered during business hours.
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This department should be closed and its employees terminated.  There is no excuse for this kind of conduct.  At a minimum it is an abuse of power and waste.  It might even be considered theft.  This is what Obama is fighting to fund?